Curtain fixture



M. H. SMYT-HE CURTAIN FIXTURE Filed Oct. 20, 1920 Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

I nnpennm n. sivrYrHE, OFEVANSIEOII, rrnmors.

- To all whom it may'concem: 1 s a Be it'known that I, MARGARET: H, SMXTHE, a citizen. of the United States, residing 'at -EWfiIIStOItflIl thecounty of cooltgand S tate "of Illino s,,have invented certair'r ni-zw' and useful Improvements inGurtain- Fixtures, of: F

. 1 1.11 withi curtains and-a curtain rod! equipped whichuthe followingis. a specification.

This invention relates to curtain fixtures,

and has for one of-its objects thep'rovision' 1090f simple and iefiicientmeansior holding curtains or draperies; positionupontheir' supporting rods. Other objects will appeanhereinafter.

It is customary to support iwindow cur- :tainsor draperies. jupon' metal rods secured 'at'the tops'of-window casings; the upper.

,edge of the curtain aor drapery being. either provided with rings that'encircle and slide upon the supporting rod or with a tuck .0r

loop formedin the material of the curtain or drapery through whichtuck or loop the curtain r is passed before being placed ."in'its supporting brackets. The curtain rods 7 are ordinarily of 'smoothpolished metal' which offer little resistance tothe sliding of the curtains. upon them; and as-a result, there is ,a' constant tendency :for the curtain; to creep along the rod, and, whereapairof spacedcurtains are used, for:theadj acent i edges to.m0ve toward each other. This is 1 particularly. true whenxthe curtains hang in pleats or folds, and especially when the cur- "tains are of relatively still material, or are -starched so asto have some elasticity. 1 This -tendencyis accentuated by'the blowing off i curtainsflwhen the window is open. There sult is that the curtains must-frequently be 1 adjusted upon the rods to prevent them from; presenting an untidy and'unsym'metrical ap- 'pearance, and to prevent them from partially r or completely closingthe window opening.

7' In-the present form of the invention the curtain is held in position by providing I, an adjustable abutment or stop. which may be sockets, and which may be adjustedalong the Y rod to any desired position. The adjustable Application filed October 20, 1920.;E Serialifio.,4l8,252. W Y

i lu r d in th co pa y n dmW -n si clamped upon the. rod after the'curtain is in proper-position and the rodplacedin its rod and engages the curtaini-thus preventing 5 d ..the. above-ment oned; ob ectlonable, movement or a d p ion Otth cur a i fl he preferred form of my nvention 7 illustrates a front view of a window with my improvedclip in position Fig. .2'is an enlarged fragmental view showing .a'portion of a curtain andcurtain r .rod equ pped with my improvedclip' .3 i

Fig. 31s aview similar to F i g'.v 2-.but shoiwf ing ringssecuringfa curtain to therod; V Figlfl: is a sectional view of the rodw'i'th the-clip in position fuponit;.

Fig 5'.ill ustrates;the preferred .forr'rijof in; m d. 1-

I l ligs. 6, 7 and8 show some of the altei'na tive forms which may be used; I I

Bef erringnow to the embodiment of my. ,1nvention illustrated in the drawings; afwin dow casing 1 is providedwith a pair of curtains. 2 each, curtain havin 'a loop 3 slidably mounted ona rodl l which .is supported by two endlbrackets 5.f secured"to the window.

casing. 'lhecurtains are illustratediafs hanglng 1n folds or pleats andasbe ng-partedbr separ ate'dto leave the middle of the win'dow space uncovered. Under' these cijrcumstances there I is a tendency pre iOuSIy referred; to, so for the cui tainsfto creep along the 'rod 4.

IThis action. is prevented by fmy'. improved curtain, clips 6 which arefclipped upon 'the. curtain rod the free edge: of each of the curtains. and; which thusiengage the yedgeof they curtain (Fig.9); or the curtain rings from which the curtain hangs (Figr3), to

block or.stop the movement of'the curtams toward eachother along thefrod'fland hold .thenl in' the positionto were v initially adjusted. f

The form ofclip twin-entr es to employ is that which is illustrated in Fig, 5.

This. .form consists I of a, resilient,- member,

such asa piece of spring brass wire, bent at 'itsimiddle' intov an open-ended'loop, the twofarrnsofthe loop at thesame timeb'eingf bent outwardly and-,then finwardly; to

, them. The diameter or Opening of the jaws 7 is normally a little-less than-the diameter of the rod with which the clip is to be used, so that when the clip is in place th'e jaws grasp the rod with suflicient pressure to overcome the tendency of v the. curtain to move along the rod. The portion 10 of the clip that serves as a .shank or handle also serves as a spring to-hold the jaws in engagement with the rod. The prongs 9 in addition to their wedging or jawseparating function, also act as stops or abutments for arresting the movement of the free edge of the curtain. The slight pressure of thefree edge'of the curtain against the prongs may tilt the-clip slightly so as to throw the lower end or shank 10 within the outer edge ,or inside theloopof the "curtain and thus hide it from view, see

Fig. 2. For a curtain rod, which is 7 the diameter of the rod almost universally employed, the dimensions of the clip are substantially as illustrated in Fig. 5. The clip when in place therefore is so small as e to be inconspicuous. I V In order that-the clip may be as small as possible consistent with doing the work for which it is designed, I have found it desirable to make the width of'the constricted portion or mouth 8' only, slightly less than the width or diameter of'the jaws 7. 'When thus formed the clip ,may be forced upon the rod with relatively little spreading of the jaws. This makes itpossible to reduce the length of wire in the shank 10 without causing the clip to be strained the forming operation.

beyond its elastic limit and thus receive a permanent set in being'applied'to the rod.

I In the alternative form of clip illustrated in Fig. 6 the jaws. 7 are of 'angular' instead of curved contour. In'the form illustrated in Fig. 7 only one of the arms of the openended loop has an *enlarged'or outwardly and inwardly'curved jaw portion, the other arm being"straig,ht. In the form shown in Fig. 8 the arms of the open-ended loop extend in straight lines from the jaw enlargement to the curved tip of the shank.

These alternative forms may be employed, but, as has been stated, the form shown in Fig. 5 is preferred.

When so desired a plurality of the clips 7 6 may be placed side by side on the rod when the curtains are especially stifl to hold the latter against movements on the rod. The clips 6 may engage a curtain ring, as indicated in Fig. 3, as well as the edge of the curtain in 'F ig.'2, and be as efiective. Also, the clips may be applied to the rod so that the handle 10 engages the curtain or ring to provide the stop instead of the prongs 9.

I preferably form the sides of the handle 1 j or spring 10 so that they converge toward to develop the frictional resistance required the jaws 7. The connecting portions between the parts 7 and 10 provide .za'stop which prevents moving the clip too far onto the rod and thereby bending the parts of the clip beyond their elastic limit.

1. The combination with a curtain having a loop at its top and a curtain rod disposed in said loop and supporting the curtain, of a clip laterally placed upon and in frictional clamping engagement with 1 limited opposite portions of. the circumference of said rod, and being disposed at one edge of the curtain With a portion of said clip engaging one end of the :loop, said clip being substantially within and hidden by said loop.

'2; The combination with a curtain having a loop at its top and a curtain rod disposed in said loop and supporting the curtain, of a wire clip having portionsintermediate its ends disposed partially around and frictionally engaging opposite sides of the cur-' tain rod, said curtain engaging one'end of the clip holding the latter at. an angle to the rod and holding the greater part of the. clip in the loop of the curtain.

3. A curtain clip comprising. a resilient wire having a bend at its middle portion and its end portions disposed adj acenteach other with a part of one of said end'portions bent outwardly and then slightly inwardly to form a jaw with a slightly CQII'. stricted mouth adapted to clamp opposite sides of a curtain rod, and the end portion of said clip beyond the slightly constrictedf mouth being adapted to engage theedge of a curtain and prevent sliding of the curtain on the rod. f

4:. A curtain clip comprising ,a light spring metal wire disposed with a handle portion having substantially straight and relatively widely separated sides, curved jaw portions adapted to grip opposite sides of a curtain rod and-"having a mouth the normalopening of which is only slightly less than'the normal opening of the'jaws, and curtain edge pro ection on sald aws diverging from each other.

5. A curtain clip consisting of a light jaws and provided with prongs at the 0 en resilient wire bent to form an open ended end of the mouthforming stops to hol a 10 loop the sides of which are relatively widely Y curtain against sliding on the rod. separated, said loop being slightly ex- In'testimony whereof I have "signed my ended at an intermediate portion to form name to this specification on this 14th day jaws adapted to grip limited opposite areas of October, A. D. 1920.

of a curtain rod, and with a slightly constricted mouth communicating with the I .-:MABGARET H. SMYTHE. 

